Disappearing Nine Patch

Whew... I've kept my sewing machine humming for the past 24 or so hours. Does that make my machine love or hate me?


When I was at my parents house and helping my mom make curtains, there were gaps of time where I couldn't do anything. So I raided my mom's stash (it's existence is probably all my fault though!) and helped myself to enough 4.5" strips to make a Disappearing 9-patch quilt.

Mom was a little surprised when she saw me using her beautiful batik fabric with gold stars. It's one of her favorite pieces (I gave it to her for a birthday gift) and just how much of it was I using?! Not to worry, only 13.5 inches worth. :)


She had no issues with me using the black fabric - it'd just be a quick trip to JoAnn's to replenish that.

And I only used one 4.5" strip from 12 different hand dyed fabrics. Why is it so fun to play with somebody else's stash? :)


The strips were sewn together at my parents house, but the subcutting didn't start to happen until I was back at home.

My biggest concern was making sure that I was getting the same quarter inch from my mom's machine as I get at home. I think I was able to eyeball it pretty well.


But I had to be careful, mistakes weren't allowed because I don't have access to my mom's stash anymore!

I did boo-boo once, but I was able to save it and avoid weeping and gnashing of my teeth. Good thing too, I've got a dentist appointment on Monday. :P


Sometimes it's so nice working with such large pieces, they come together much faster. And shows the depths of the dyed pieces better.

Larger pieces help keeps the excitement and energy flowing. It didn't hurt that I've been thinking about doing a 9-patch for the longest time, but didn't take action within my own stash.


Another boo-boo, but this one was definitely in my favor.

Instead of a 4.5" strip, I somehow cut a 4.75" one. No problem! Just whack off that extra quarter inch and keep trucking on.


Finally the magic starts to happen.

Slice the center in half one way...


...then the other way.

The nine-patch is about to disappear...


...and become a whole new block design.

The cutting goes surprisingly fast, especially if your husband happens to be away for the evening due to a work-related event. ;)


By bedtime on Friday night, I had half of the block pieces sewn together.

But I couldn't empty that bin just yet - the quilt isn't a top.


Today I finished piecing all the blocks.

I tried my hardest to spread the colors around evenly, but it never fails and somewhere in the quilt two colors from the same fabric sit next to each other.


By nightfall I have a completed top! I think my biggest motivation was so I didn't have to arrange the blocks all over again. :P

Best of all? I can officially declare a quilt bin empty!


I did tell my husband about my plans for making sure that I never have more than 10 "current" quilting projects at a time. Knowing that he knows about it, and knowing that he'll likely ask me several weeks or months down the road how it's going helps keep me in line! ;)

Leah